Ledger's First Bike

Now that Ledger is nearly 18 months old we decided it is time for him to start learning to ride a bike (he IS a Rasmussen after all).

So... we set out shopping for a balance bike. It has no pedals and the idea is that he learns to steer, balance and handle the bike before he deals with the pedals.

To be honest I think Marq has been looking forward to this day for a very long time.

Ledger loves the bike and although it's a little heavy for him now he likes to ride it with our help so for now we are leaving it in the house for soft carpet landings.

Watch out for these two....

18 Months

Ledger is... A happy, funny, silly boy most of the time. He LOVES fruit! He recently discovered trains and airplanes. He knows that two comes after one and that he gets TWO gummy vitamins at night. He climbs everything including his poor dogs. He loves to go for walks in his jogger.

He has recently developed an interest in the TV. He'll watch Sesame Street or some movies for a short amount of time and asks for Blue's Clues. He loves snack time. He loves to play in the water and thinks that he can drink like a dog. He can say lots of words... mom, dad, sheeshee (Chevy), Hi, No, Out, More, Cheese, Ya, Choo Choo and a few others. He is a great sleeper. He takes a 2-3 hour nap everyday and usually sleeps 12-13 hours a night. We love him very much and we are having so much fun watching him grow each day and discover our world around him. We love you Ledger!

Office Dog

Today Koda got to go to work with Marq for the day. He loved making friends with the ladies in Customer Service and even got a bone out of it :) What a ladies man.

Grandma & Grandpa

We have been lucky enough to have Marq's parents staying here with us for a few days and it has been great.

Kae helped me make a couple batches of raspberry & mixed berry jam. So yummy!

We went in to Marq's office for lunch and a tour. Ledger helped him out while we were there :)

On the last day we took them to the Oregon Zoo.

We had a great time in the short time they were here with us. Thanks for coming to see us!

OMSI

Yesterday Ledger & I met Marq's sisters at the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry downtown. I have heard so much about it and was really looking forward to checking it out.

As you can see from the photos we were not disappointed. This place is AWESOME! Everything is totally hands on. Ledger was so interested and loved having the freedom to roam and touch anything he wanted.

He and Kapri had so much fun in the water area and they both ended up soaking wet.

They wanted to move the water from one table to the other and I think Ledger drank about a gallon of the chlorinated water! Maybe it will help his cold ;)

Ledger loves watching the older kids to see how they do things and then tries to do it like them.

He loved playing in the sand area and I loved that it was clean "sand".

At first he wasn't sure about the sand on his bare feet but once I took my shoes off and joined him he warmed up quick. He liked shoveling and dumping the sand on the seats. I love that he is so friendly and social with both kids & adults.

This area was for a little older kids but wanted to show Ledger the robots because this is like the robots his daddy makes.

We had such a great time that we bought an annual pass and we will most definitely be going back very soon.

Oaks Park

Yesterday was our adorable niece Kapri's birthday, she turned 2 and we were so excited to be here for it! We were also very excited to see Aunt Emily & Uncle Randy who are in town. It was an exciting day!

We took the kids to Oaks Park which is an amusement park about an hour from my house. Ledger wasn't sure what to think of the rides at first.

He liked the roller coaster...

was even pretty patient waiting in the lines...

and loved "driving" the boats.

We had a great time at the park and LOVED having Emily & Randy here!!! Afterwards we came back to our house to relax and pick some berries. It was a hot 85 degrees and like 90% humidity. It was muggy. We had dinner and rootbeer floats with everyone and we were so happy to have everyone here for the day. I am thankful to be close to family and I love watching Ledger & his cousins become good buds. Happy Birthday Kapri!

Hood River

On Saturday we packed up the family and headed out to Hood River for the night. Marq's boss has an awesome vacation house out there that he has offered to let us use several times. Are we completely unpacked and settled? No! But summer will only last so long, we were itching for some fun and Hood River is one of our favorite places ON EARTH!

Sunday morning we headed down to the waterfront park with Ledger & the dogs. The photo is one of my all time favorites! I love how happy they both are playing together. Are they related or what?! After the park the kids and I took a lovely Sunday nap and Marq went for a bike ride with his boss Scott & another Senior Engineer. Scott took us to dinner that evening at the golf course and then we headed home. I am so very grateful that Marq has found such an amazing company to work for. Scott is so super friendly, laid back and generous. I know that he is really excited to have Marq join his team and I love that we've found somewhere where all of his hardwork and talent are valued. The Northwest has always been our dream but it honestly feels like everything has fallen perfectly into place and I know that this is the right time for this move.

Oregon Zoo

Today we took a break from the unpacking and Ledger & I headed into Portland to visit the zoo. We met Marq's sister Kim & his Aunt Denice there with their kids.

Ledger & Kapri are so cute together. She is almost exactly 6 months older than him. They had so much fun looking at the animals and riding in the stroller together.

Ledger hasn't been to the zoo for a few months and he was much more engaged this time.

Our favorite part hands down was the train ride. Ledger was in awe. He sat so still and observed everything. One of my favorite parts of being a mom is watching the wheels in his head turn as he explores the world around him. He was so sweet and so in the moment it brought tears to my eyes. I realize how lucky I am to witness this little one grow.

As Ledger & I left the zoo he wrapped his arms around my neck and pressed his cheek to my cheek while I carried him, totally content and happy. This was definitely one of the happiest days I have had in a long time.

Welcome to the Northwest Rasmussens!!!

Moving In

Marq's Aunt Denice came out to help us with some unpacking and celebrating!

We are SO glad to finally be here!!!

Adjusting

I think it's safe to say that Ledger & the dogs are happy with our new house & yard. Marq and I worked really hard to find a place that we loved and gave us the country life that we wanted. Between the long drive, lack of sleep and constant changes going on Ledger has been all over the place. He has been onery and whiney which is so not like him and I hate to say it but I know how he feels!

On Saturday Marq's sister Kim took him to the splash park while we got some things done in town. When we got home he took a big nap and was so much happier!

Chevy is still catching up on her sleep as well.This is literally the view from our new king-sized Intellibed. Life is rough here ;)

Koda has been staking out every sunny spot in the house, he loves to nap in the sun so all the windows and glass doors are perfect for him.

Ledger is finding lots of ways to keep himself entertained while we unpack. He has been such a trooper and I hope we can do something fun for him again soon!

Ledger has figured out that he can pick the strawberries himself and eat them.

He loves them but he doesn't seem to care whether they are ripe or not, he eats them all.

We've arrived!

i am so happy to report that we survived the long, long drive to our new home!

It took Ledger and I a total of 13 hours to make it to Hood River, we left Salt Lake at 2:00pm and arrived at 3:00am (MST). Marq, the dogs and his friends pulled in about 4:30am. We spent the night at Aunt Denice's house and got a few hours of MUCH needed sleep (until Ledger woke me up at 6:30). We left Hood River about 10:30am and arrived at our new home at 12:30pm. Home Sweet New Home.

Moving Day

Our big day finally arrived! Marq picked up our 26-foot Penske truck at 7am and we quickly got to work. I obviously underestimated how crazy life would suddenly become what with the whole moving/packing thing, driving 14+ hours with a little one and two dogs, a 1-year old to care for, house guests to tend to, meals to arrange, etc, etc.

Marq's good friend Darryl and brother-in-law Randy came over to help load in the rain. I don't know what we would have done without them!!!

You wanna know what's been even more crazy than all those things combined? Trying to keep a certain little boy off the moving truck ramp and out of harms way! In the millisecond I happen to blink, he's woosh, gone. Yes, keeping tabs on a certain little boy has pretty much consumed most of my waking hours lately! Luckily Emily took time off work to come up and help out with the little monster while we packed. He was a crazy man playing in the rain and puddles and they both ended up soaking wet!!! She was a lifesaver!

Once almost everything was loaded Ledger and I got on the road to get a head start.

Ledger and Koda were both really excited about the big truck... Chevy not so much.

I said a sad goodbye to my best friend...

And we were off... like a herd of turtles...

Stay tuned....

Saying Goodbye

We spent the 4th of July with some of our favorite people, enjoying the day, relaxing a little and saying goodbye.

We are going to miss spending so much time with Marq's family! I STILL miss Grandma Razz since Marq, Chevy & I moved out of her house 4 years ago but we will miss her more from far away. Bob & Kae are not only amazing & supportive parents/grandparents they are also our good friends. We spend time with them not because we are obligated to but because we genuinely enjoy them! Marq will really miss biking with his dad!

We love hanging out with them all and we are so grateful we got the chance to become good friends with Emily & Randy before leaving.We will miss them all but see them very soon in the NW!!!

We will also miss the Ovards! We have had so much fun spending time with Nick, Noelle, Brigham & Sophia over the last few years. We are going to miss our super fun camping trips, trips to the Porcupine, Super Bowl parties and BBQ's. We hope to see these yahoos in the NW soon!!!